Guys, you are really getting ridiculous here. WDFW does not determine which fish are wild and hatchery by their fin clip, they determine it by coded wire tag and by reading scales - yes, that's right, you can tell a hatchery coho from a wild coho with 99.8% accuracy by reading the rings on the scale - used to do it for a living myself. There is no on-going plot to defraud the fishermen here

Hasn't anybody noticed that the coho runs have been bigger than ever these last couple of years. I noticed it because now on my home system I can keep wild fish without guilt - the runs have rebounded. Don't you think that, along with good ocean conditions that obviously play a major role, that it might have just a little bit to do with WDFW managing the fish better, by requiring "wild" fish release in the ocean and in a number of streams where the true wild fish are not up to snuff yet? And also by more effectively managing mixed stock fisheries so that there actually is adequate escapement to most systems? And by letting sport fishermen have the first crack at them instead of ocean trollers? Even the nets, indian or not, don't go in until we get a good shot at returning fish. I can't imagine why most of you obviously good fishermen biatch so much about having to release a few unclipped coho - I released most of my coho this year, unclipped or not, holding out for a king or just because I don't need a couple cards a year of meat. Fishing has been damn good these past few years, thank you, lighten up on WDFW and enjoy it